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Home , History of Pakistan, Pakistan

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Volume 15 Article 1

2015

Pakistan's : Search for National Identity

Akmal Abdulmuminov Minnesota State University - Mankato, [email protected]

Follow this and additional works at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur

Part of the International Relations Commons

Recommended Citation Abdulmuminov, Akmal (2015) "'s Partition: Search for National Identity," Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato: Vol. 15 , Article 1. Available at: https://cornerstone.lib.mnsu.edu/jur/vol15/iss1/1

This Article is brought to you for free and open access by the Undergraduate Research Center at Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. It has been accepted for inclusion in Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato by an authorized editor of Cornerstone: A Collection of Scholarly and Creative Works for Minnesota State University, Mankato. Abdulmuminov: Pakistan's National Identity 1

Akmal Abdulmuminov POL 442 Dr. Kawabata 5.2.2015

Introduction

After several hundred years of being under British colony, finally received

independence in 1947. India’s independence was followed by Pakistan’s partition. During the

colonization, India and Pakistan were merged into one state ruled by the British crown. India

served as an open market economy for British colonizers for many years. During those years,

India consisted of hundreds of different ethnicities and , the religions being

Hindus, , and . All these different ethnic groups collaborated in order to decolonize

India from the British. Independence was successful, however, it came with a big price. There

were mass casualties during the early when several independence movement groups

started emerging. The British Government finally realized that it could not control its colony any

further, and in 1947 India was granted independence.

One of the major religious groups that lived in India was the Muslim population. After

the partition, Muslims wanted to create their own state apart from India: Pakistan. The challenge

for Pakistan was creating and perpetrating their national identity. was the main basis in

Pakistan’s national identity. Throughout the years in like Pakistan, there has been a

tradition of “ideological polarization between orthodoxy and reform that has grown in intensity

in recent time”1 ( 2010, 26). In its quest to define its national identity, Pakistan faced

several challenges throughout the years.

1 Malik, I. (2010). Pakistan: Democracy, , and the Building of a Nation. Northampton, MA: Interlink

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Pakistan, an , was formed primarily under Islamic ideology. The literal

meaning of ‘Pakistan’ translates into “Pure Land”2 (Gyaunendra 2001, 27). Islam plays an

important role in the everyday life of people of Pakistan. Therefore, after the partition Pakistan

favored its national identity as one closely tied to Islam. Its culture, tradition, and manners are

highly influenced by the dominant in the . Over the course of the country’s

independence, Islam shaped politics in Pakistan. Many early rulers, mainly in the military, were

deeply involved with different Islamic groups in the process of gaining power. These groups

were so powerful that most politicians relied upon their support in controlling the government.

Different religious affiliations have caused many skirmishes and conflicts in India, both

during and after British colonization. The main conflicts were between Muslims and who

managed to live under the same state during colonization, but not after. This was one of the

major reasons for Pakistan’s partition in 1947 after India’s independence from British colony.

Pakistan’s Partition

As India was trying to gain its independence from the British, the

proposed the establishment of a separate state for the Muslim majority population that lived in

India in 1940. There were several regions where majority of the population were

Muslims, including the Northwestern and Northeastern part of India. When the proposal was

made formal in September 1944, it proponed one sovereign and independent state called

Pakistan. This proposal was made in correspondence to Gandhi, who was at the forefront of

Independence movement, and Jinnah, who was one of the leaders of Muslim League. Gandhi

was not a politician, but rather a spiritual leader that had thousands of followers.

2 Gyanendra, P. (2001). Remembering Partition: Violence, Nationalism, and . Chester, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press

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Many observers saw the partition to be the cause of violence and forced migrations,

however, they did not anticipate the mass migration that occurred later after the partition of

Pakistan. Thousands of Muslims from left India to the new Pakistan. When the proposal was

brought to , India’s largest , it agreed on the establishment of “a loose

in India, with the Muslim-majority and states of north-western and north-

eastern India”3 (Gyaunendra 2001, 22). The Muslim League was not in favor of Congress’s

proposal. By 1946, the Muslim League decided on taking a direct action with Jinnah as

the leader. This was not meant to turn into military action, --though it later did-- but rather more

of a constitutional negotiation movement. Congress took serious steps in order to break the

movement.

On 16th of August 1946, violence broke out between Hindus and Muslims in the Calcutta

region. There were several thousand casualties just in four days. This violence spread into

different parts of the region, which is now known as one of the biggest conflict in the history of

Muslims and Hindus. After the conflict of Calcutta, the most killings were reported in Bombay

(over 300 people), East (several hundred people), and Bihar (several thousand casualties

reported). Pakistan was then finally recognized as a separate .

East Pakistan:

After the partition of Pakistan, another issue emerged: the movements in .

After the independence in 1947, Pakistani government faced the challenge of welding its

citizens, Western and Eastern , into one united Pakistani nation. To do so, the

government needed to establish a national . In November 1947 during the Pakistan

3 Gyanendra, P. (2001). Remembering Partition: Violence, Nationalism, and History of India. Port Chester, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press

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Educational Conference, was proposed as a , which was opposed by the

representatives from East Pakistan (Schendel 2009, 109). Since the East Pakistan did not

consider themselves as Pakistani, the representatives of East Pakistan wanted to allow the

Bengali language to be used alongside Urdu.

The prime minister of Pakistan, Liaquat Ali , was very adamant about the Urdu

language. His argument was that Pakistan was created by several hundred million Muslims who

came together, all whose primary language is Urdu. This issue started dividing the East Pakistan

representatives in the Assembly. It created cultural and political divisions within civilians.

Because of harsh and critical speeches by the Prime Minister against ,

demonstrations erupted.

To attempt to resolve the situation, the government banned any kind of demonstrations on

this matter. Yet demonstrations still occurred, mainly by in . Students started their

demonstration in Dhaka Universities, and later expanded outside the campus. Students started

marching in the streets, calling people to join the demonstration. When the law enforcement got

in the way, students retaliated by throwing rocks and bricks. It was in 1952 that Pakistani armed

forces killed several Pakistanis demonstrating for their civil rights which prompted East Pakistan

to critically turn against Muslim League.

The conflict and demonstrations went on and off for two decades when East Pakistan

declared its independence from . The independence movement, however, faced

strong military opposition. In 1970, there were several military actions against independence

movements in East Pakistan. India played a key role in these events. The Indian government

helped the demonstrators to gain independence, and the Congress party of India decided to get

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militarily involved on pro-East Pakistan independence movement. In 1971 a new country was

established-People’s of Bangladesh.

Pakistan vs. Russian identity crisis

Bangladesh’s independence movement was very similar to the post-Soviet Russian

national identity crisis. During the Soviet era, fifteen different states were merged into one,

which were organized by strict social and hierarchical rule by Communist party. All the

states had different national histories, traditions, and custom. After the collapse of the Soviet

Union, fifteen independent states emerged. Several of those states had civil wars after

independence from the for many various reasons, including ethnic divisions,

ideologies, and religious differences.

One of the primary challenges that Russian elites faced was to define their country’s

national identity. What made this a challenge of particular importance was the fact that after the

collapse of the Soviet Union there were numerous different ethnic groups living in Russian

. Several of those included the Northern Caucasus. Bangladesh’s separatist movement

is somewhat similar to the separatist movements in Northern Caucasus in post-Soviet times.

As a result of the collapse of Soviet Union starting from 1991, the relations between

Russia and North Caucasus region, especially Chechnya, worsened dramatically.

conducted bloody military campaigns in Chechnya, and countless bombings and terrorist actions

have taken place throughout the Russian Federation ever since. Throughout the 1990s, the

primary concern in the North Caucasus of the Russian federal authorities was separatist

Chechnya. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Chechnya claimed independence and

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provoked immediate reaction from President Boris Yeltsin, who saw this as a big threat to

Russia’s and other Caucasus region’s .

Chechnya occupied a very special place in Yeltsin’s Caucasus policy. In December 1991,

a group of experts was dispatched to Chechnya by the Supreme Soviet of Russia, but the

separatist leaders refused to discuss the post-Soviet issues of the republic. Later in March 1992,

Russian and Chechen leaders met to discuss the basis for settling Russian and Chechen relations

(Markedonov 2011). By the end of the year Chechen leaders formulated basic principles through

which Russia had to recognize Chechnya as an independent state, in return Chechnya would

preserve its economic union with Russian and cooperate in dealing with security.

Defining Pakistan and Pakistani

Pakistan, just like , emerged in the migration of many populations (albeit Muslim

populations as opposed to Jewish ones) towards certain areas. However, there are some

differences. Unlike Pakistan, the state of Israel was formed at the end of War II when

several thousand Jews migrated and settled in today’s designated areas known and recognized as

Israeli state. Pakistan, on the other hand, included well-settled communities of more than 70

million Muslims in 1947. Identifying as Pakistani is a “definition that is still deeply contested”4

(Shaikh 2009, 46). After the independence of Pakistan, the uncertainty of defining themselves as

Pakistanis was not the only challenge they faced, but also the challenge of 7 million Muslim

who fled India and claimed to have equal right to be considered Pakistani.

4 Farzana, Shaikh, Making sense of Pakistan. New : Columbia University Press, 2009.

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After the independence, Pakistan used religion as a base of its national identity. This

served them to some extent. However, there were still thousands of Indian Muslims who lived in

India and several thousand of them fled to Pakistan. This was the time when a dilemma emerged:

If the base of national identity were to be Islam, would Indian-Muslim refugees still be

considered Pakistani? The country equated ‘the Pakistani’ with ‘the Muslim’. Although the

majority of population is Sunni Muslims, there are still many Shia sectarian Muslims who live in

the country. Taking this into consideration, the possibility of achieving Pakistani identity was

highly weakened. All the factors combined, dismantled institutional protection of Pakistan’s non-

Muslim minorities, and brought doubts as who was considered to be as ‘real Pakistanis’.

Mass Indian Muslim Migration: Muhajirs

Solidifying the state’s Islamic identity in the intensified many other concerns. One

of the main concerns in Pakistan was Indian Muslim migrants. The Indian Muslim migrants were

called muhajirs. People who were long settled in the lands that made up Pakistan considered

themselves as natives and sons of the soil. The muhajir migration that initiated in 1947 came

with long-term political and economic consequences. The mass migration was not supported by

neither the Pakistani nor the Indian governments, which facilitated the rejection of muhajirs by

long settled Pakistanis.

On 12 of October, 1947, , Prime Minister of India from Congress Party,

stated that there was “no policy with regard to exchange of population [between the two

countries] and that there was no talk of it before August 15…none of us envisioned a major

transfer of population at any time”5 (Khalidi 1998, 340). Many observers assumed that after the

5 Khalidi, O. (1998). From Torrent to Trickle: Indian Muslim Migration to Pakistan, 1947-97. , 37(3), 339-352.

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partition, Pakistan would contain a majority of Muslim population, though they still anticipated

to have significant number of Hindu and Sikh minorities in it.

There were three phases of migration to Pakistan. The first occurred from to

November of the same year. This was the largest phase of migration in terms of immigrants. The

first phase of migration was considered to be the most violent of the three migrations. The

second phase, which was the longest, went from December 1947 to . The

majority of the migrants were from the Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Andhra, and

regions. The final phase went from 1973 to the late 1990s. This migration was different from

previous two, in the sense that it mostly included educated unemployed Muslims from different

parts of India. In the later years significant number of Urdu-speaking Muslims from different

parts of India made their way to Pakistan.

Migration was faced with mass rejection by the early settlers. One of the biggest

consequences of muhajir migration was the eruption of violence. Most of the refugees who

arrived to newly independent Pakistan settled in the north-western rather than the eastern

territories of the regions designated as Pakistan. Many of those settled in the towns of Sind and,

Karachi which is one of the biggest and most populated in Pakistan. is the center

of commercial and administrative hub. The violence was primarily between different religious

groups. Close to 600,000 people were killed and hundreds of thousands were injured. Over a

million people fled the country to save their lives from violent mobs. During the same time

period, 7,200,000 Muslims emigrated to Pakistan from India. Over five million Sikhs and Hindus

fled Pakistan due to cruel physical violence. Today, violence has significantly minimized

between the different religious groups and ethnicities. However, still exist in a

lower level against Muslims in India, and Hindus and Sikhs in Pakistan.

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Zia ul-Haq and the Idea of a Strong Islamic State

Since the independence of Pakistan, many political leaders have used religious sentiments

as an instrument to strengthen Pakistan’s identity. The state institutions in Pakistan, more

specifically its national security institutions, including intelligence services and military, have

played a key role in establishing Pakistani national identity which primary basis was Islam. Not

only were domestic politics influenced by Islamic ideology in Pakistan, but also its foreign

policies as well.

General Zia ul-Haq was one of the leaders who was strongly in favor of establishing a

strong Islamic government. At the time, Islamic groups were powerful enough that many

political leaders depended on their support. He stayed in power longer than any of his

predecessors. He came to power in 1978 and stayed until his death in 1988. Under his

governance as a military leader, Islamist groups were supported and sponsored by the state to

extend their influence to local and domestic politics. This commitment by the state gradually

prompted jihadi ideology, especially during the Bangladesh war that took place in 1971. Jihadi

ideology is the ideology of holy war in Islam.

Many western powers, especially the , coordinated with Zia in order to have

influence in the region. Through the United States to Zia’s government, Zia sponsored many

Islamic groups to overthrow Soviet Union from . The United States wanted the

Soviet Union out of the Central Asian region, primarily because of the threat of spread of

Communism as well as diminishing Soviet influence in the region. The best way to diminish

Soviet influence was through economic support to Zia’s government. This influenced the Soviet

invasion of Afghanistan to some extent, but was not the primary reason of Soviet Union’s failure

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of invasion. During the time, the Soviet system was crumbling due to excessive military

spending which other satellite states were organizing independence movements.

When Zia came to power, his primary determination was to make Pakistan more Islamic

and transform its political life. He considered armed forces to be crucial in his leadership.

Through his leadership, he demonstrated that rather than being primarily a political leader and

structuring Pakistan’s political life, planting Islam as the primary religion of the country would

give him a better chance to stay in power. Zia’s purpose was “the survival and development of

Pakistan. The did not expect the political system he had constructed to survive his

departure from the scene”6 (Haqqani 2005, 148). He maximized the power of religious groups

and leaders in the administration without any compromising superior status of military.

Islamization

“ is generally perceived by the respondents as a process of religious and

social change which seeks to expand the role of religious institutions and the scope of religious

practice in Pakistani society”7 (Hassan 1985, 263). This process was primarily adopted to reform

and establish a new socio-cultural norms and institutions. Islamization was one the biggest

program that the adopted in order to define the country’s national

identity. The primary basis of Islamization was Islam and the practice of Law was present

in many aspects of governmental and social institutions. Political leaders in Pakistan have taken

different approaches in implying the program both in state and local governments. Islamization,

6 Haqqani, H. (2005). Pakistan Between and Military. Washington D.C.: The Press. 7 Hassan, R. (1985). Islamization: An Analysis of Religious, Political and Social Change in Pakistan, Middle Easter Studies, 21(3), 263-84.

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however, required many reforms in various levels of policy making. The program created a

strong connection between the state and different religious groups.

When Zia ul-Haq was in power, Islamization was the primary state ideology in Pakistan.

This period represents the presence of military-controlled regime after the overthrow of the

Pakistan People’s Party in May 1977. It first emerged under the Pakistan People’s Party

government that was led by Ali . During Zia’s governance, Islamization was an

ideological program which primary purpose was to establish ‘true Islamic’. Therefore, the state

had direct connection with many Islamic clerics and groups. The state needed those particular

groups assistance in order to fully establish reforms that it was putting forth. This meant that

many Islamic groups and clerics had leverage over regular civilians, and the program gave them

a chance to participate in policy-making and implementation.

Zia brought several reforms within different governmental institutions in order to

implement the program. One of the major reforms were in educational system in Pakistan. In the

case of educational institution reform, Islamization redefined the educational objectives. Through

the educational reform, the government intended to bring an Islamic mentality to the

generation. To do so the government took several steps. During Zia’s government, all the

textbooks were rewritten “with an Islamic ideological agenda”8 (Haqqani 2005, 149). One of the

most prominent Pakistani historian, K.K. Aziz, stated that textbooks that were rewritten included

numerous factual and historic errors. After examining tens of textbooks, Aziz concluded

that new textbooks aimed the support of military regime in Pakistan. At the same time, it

8 Haqqani, H. (2005). Pakistan Between Mosque and Military. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press.

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portrayed and promoted hatred towards Hindus and Sikhs. Textbooks portrayed Pakistan as be

best ruled with an Islamic ideology.

The government targeted those who were opposed to the educational reform. Those

people were usually secular college professors who saw the reform as a government tool in

maintaining power and manipulating people’s minds. These particular people were usually

prosecuted or fired from their jobs. Those prosecuted were unfairly judged, since the majority of

local and state court judges were appointed by the government. People who opposed the reform

could not practice their civil rights, as they did not have the right to be fairly represented in court.

Human rights violations were everywhere. The majority of judges were Islamic clerics who

previously were -Islamic religious leader in their communities.

Reforms were brought to the legal system of the country as well. Leaders reformed the

existing court system. Previous judges were replaced with Islamic leaders. The process made the

court procedures simpler and less bureaucratic. Islamic scholars, Ulima, restructured the existing

laws in the judicial process.

Mass media was controlled by the state. The primary role of the media was teaching of

Islam and promote its ideology. Through media, the government intended to reform its cultural

and traditional institutions and involve Islamization traditions and customs. All the television

programs were government-sponsored, movies released had to be investigated by the

government officials to make sure it promoted Islamic ideology.

Conclusion

India and Pakistan share several same traditions and customs. However, the religious

division between the two nationalities have caused many issues both during and after the

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colonization. Throughout the , positioning Islam as a source of identity has

caused many problems to the country. Many political leaders have used the religion as a tool to

gain political power.

The same Islamization that has been the biggest step in defining Pakistan’s identity has

also caused Pakistan both social and political issues. The independence movement of Bangladesh

was primarily because leaders of Pakistan focused only on Pakistani people when defining the

identity and setting up the national language. Through social and governmental reforms, the

government intended to use Islam as a base for Pakistan’s national identity. Today, Pakistan is

an Islamic country, and political tension still remains as a main issue with India.

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Works cited

Akhmadov, Ilyas K., and Lanskoy, Mariam A. 2010. The Chechen Struggle: Independence Won and Lost. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan

Barber, T., Obituary: Dzhokhar Dudayev. The Independent. Farzana, Shaikh, Making sense of Pakistan. New York: Columbia University Press, 2009. Gyanendra, P. (2001). Remembering Partition: Violence, Nationalism, and History of India. Port Chester, NY, USA: Cambridge University Press Haqqani, H. (2005). Pakistan Between Mosque and Military. Washington D.C.: The Brookings Institution Press. Hassan, R. (1985). Islamization: An Analysis of Religious, Political and Social Change in Pakistan. Middle Easter Studies, 21(3), 263-84. Khalidi, O. (1998). From Torrent to Trickle: Indian Muslim Migration to Pakistan, 1947-97. Islamic Studies, 37(3), 339-352.

Malik, I. (2010). Pakistan: Democracy, Terrorism, and the Building of a Nation. Northampton, MA: Interlink Markedonov, S. Yeltsin’s Complicated Legacy in the Caucasus. Russia and Beyond. Melvin, N. (1995). Russians Beyond Russia: The Politics of National Identity. London: A Cassel Imprint. Schendel, W. (2009). A . London: Cambridge University Press.

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